Reluctance to use a tumble dryer is a British quirk

[User3735]

I've noticed that there is a lot of shame around using a tumble dryer, and even people who have one are reluctant to admit it, and make excuses why they have one and say they use it rarely. The claims of them being extortionate and terrible for the environment seem exaggerated to me whenever I look at the latest energy uses and cost. According to Which, the average tumble dryer costs around £150 per year to run (and less than £60 per year for a newer heat pump dryer). Yet people will buy expensive heated airers, rails and dehumidifiers to probably a similar value.

I have observed this tumble dryer reluctance from people from all financial backgrounds. The only pattern I have noticed is those who had one in their home growing up are more likely to use them, and those who didn't think they are to be avoided at all costs. I wonder if they did cost significantly more when they were new, and it is a misconception of running costs?

I have always had one, and when they have broken I have replaced asap. Our current dryer broke down this summer, and I put off replacing while the weather was better, but I now seem to have been influenced by the tumble dryer haters and I have a strange sense of satisfaction of powering on through winter without one. Whilst I get an utterly pointless sense of satisfaction that I am winning, the time spent shaking out, hanging and turning clothes takes up quite a ridiculous chunk of time compared to tumble drying and I am very time poor. Given our wet climate and issues with damp, I really can't understand why so many people are against them?

It's so stupid that people end up with damp clothes spreading mould all over the house.

Flats need balconies and people need more awareness of the solutions used in Asia for drying clothes - those hanging rack things with built in clothespegs that you can hang out of windows or from any rack are really handy.

My bath/shower room is a sealable unit with a dry/heat function, with rails over it. You hang clothes in there in the evening and press the drier function button, then shut the door tight, and the clothes are dry when you wake up. Uses a lot less energy and space than a tumble dryer, so useful in densely populated countries with expensive energy costs like Japan (and the UK!). Scroll down here to see the kind of thing I am talking about.
https://martinigirlsakeworld.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/drying-clothes-in-your-bathroom-in-japan/

Over the last 20 years, the average amount of footage per person in the UK has declined until it's about the same as that of Japan - yes, really. Look at the size of newbuilds in the UK - they are so small these days.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Average-floor-area-per-capita-in-residential-buildings-worldwide-as-of-2008-Data_fig2_358361768

But living solutions and building systems don't seem to have kept up with this reality, somehow, perhaps because until recently the average British person had more space per person and people are still trying to get used to the new cramped reality.

If houses and flats in the UK are going to be as small as those here in Japan, they need to be designed in a way that bears in mind that there is not going to space for a utility room and that clothes-drying will need other solutions - so, flats need balconies, houses need bathrooms that can be multipurposed for clothes drying, all neighborhoods and cities etc. need to explicitly permit people to dry clothes outside, and people need clothes-peg-bearing racks for drying clothes conveniently!

Nor me. I use mine daily. I don't drive or fly off on holidays now, so no shame about my carbon footprint either.

I hate damp washing everywhere.

I haven’t had a tumble dryer for years. Simply because I’m trying to keep my energy costs as low as possible.
I have a small rotary line set up in my spare room for rainy days.
I know my work colleagues think I’m barmy for having a washing line indoors.
What I find barmy is that when it suddenly starts raining they stress about their washing being on the line getting drenched, which is something I don’t have to worry about.
They have tumble dryers but rarely use them, again because of the cost.

I have one but I hate using it. My clothes last longer, and look fresher, without it. I'd love to use it more to be honest. Cost is not inhibitory for us. Sometimes I use it on a gentle temperature to get some of the moisture out, but then those clothes will still end up on the line. I have one inside and outside.

Use mine all the time, keep it in the shed, no shame here. My neighbour has a huge tree which overhangs my small garden so I can t hang clothes out as they d just get pigeon pooped on

They also aren’t as expensive to run as people think, depending on your family size etc. I’ve found the heated airer can take 12 hours and still not dry and costs more than whacking it in the dryer for an hour and your washing pile just builds up.

In summer, my dehumidifier and heated airer work perfectly together but not in winter.

Fair enough. I remember a Canadian friend who visited some friends of her boyfriend (at the time) in Notting Hill. She assumed they were not very well off because their son’s school jumpers were hanging on radiators. The boyfriend scoffed at her and said “What do you mean? They live in a family house in Notting Hill - they’re absolutely loaded”.

I think we've done this before with washing machine threads, but I do wonder at the posters who claim their washing never dries. You need to put things on a 1400 spin. I was even nervous moving away from my old 1600 spin, but 1400 is fine. 800 spin on the other hand leaves clothes soaking wet, so those clothes wouldn't dry.

Mould is not caused by a bit of washing, but by poor air flow on cold walls. Breathing, cooking and showers all bring in just as much moisture as the washing. You need to heat and air your home if you're getting mould, houses retain humidity if you don't do that and fixing mould is far more expensive than a low heat. Energy efficiency is great to a point, you don't need to swan about in 24 degree heat, but there is an important balance if you want a dry home.

I think it's just that there is huge variance in how homes are constructed and heated. Also how much washing you're drying in how much time.

I never used to get mould in my Victorian terraced 2 up 2 down when it was just me and toddler DS and we were a bit lax on laundry so didn't have a huge amount of washing. I tended to find things dried in 12-24 hours also, even when I did washing in spurts like 2-3 loads in one day. I used to dry in the kitchen which was probably a fairly warm room. And at that time I didn't worry so much about heating costs so probably had radiators on - I hate being cold.

But a couple of years ago just before we got the tumble dryer, we were a family of five living in a concrete high rise, with expensive electric storage heaters that we tried to avoid using, and the space I had to dry was a bedroom which effectively has three external walls due to the placement of balconies alternating with bedrooms. It got mouldy. And in the winter, it would take things 2-3 days to dry, especially items like jeans and sweaters. (Towels not such an issue - I think towels are designed to be fairly quick drying). I got mould even if I put the plug in heater on while drying. Currently, we don't have a baby in the room so we haven't used the heating at all in that bedroom this year, and so far so good - I haven't seen any condensation on the windows yet.

Every washing machine I've ever had has automatically chosen the top spin speed for every normal cycle, it's only a delicates cycle which uses a slower one. So I doubt that is the issue. I think it's more differences in the room type, temperature of the room and amount/frequency of washing which is likely to be the issue.

My tumble dryer has just packed up & I have spent the last two weekends draping pants, socks & school uniform over the radiators & hanging from door frames. Had to put the heating on top to help dry everything. Absolutely miserable & I’m worried about making the place damp.

I live in a flat so no outside options for drying. I think lm going to have to replace my dryer even though money is tight.

Can anyone recommend their dryer make & model?

Ohhh I'm not looking forward to the drying element of the nappy wash again 😅 My two year old son potty trained in March this year so all the nappies were freshly packed away but now we're expecting our second next May so we'll be back to the long cycle of washing and drying cloth! Pegging them out on the line is such a pain in the bum 😂

3 of us in the house. We produce roughly a load a week each. I’m not a fan of washing every item just because it’s been worn, that’s shit for the environment and unnecessary, also I work from home nearly every day so the same harem pants and t shirt goes a long way when there’s no sweat or public contact. I take everything out well spun so its damp, not wet and put it on hangers on the curtain rail of our front bedroom. When that big radiator goes on for an hour in the evening and first thing it leaves it all bone dry and I’ve not used an iron for years. Bedding is also just a case of making sure it’s in the machine very early in the day and it’s always dry by the time I need to put it back for bed. My machine has a dryer setting, I’ve never used it. Having said that DS has literally 5 of everything in terms of school uniform and DH and I don’t have any special requirements of work attire. When Ds was a baby and before he was dry at night at about 3, I kept a big rack thing above the bath in the colder seasons, obviously it looked horrendous to have clothes hung in there all the time but with the window ajar it never caused an issue with damp. Summertime I obviously just use an airer on the patio. My energy bills for this house average £100 month all in and we run a 20ft pool may to October (solar heated, mains filtered).
people are always impressed my bills are so low.

The space available in our kitchen means we can either have a tumble dryer or a dish washer. I hate washing dishes but find hanging out cloths rather satisfying. My mum did have one in a similar sized kitchen when I was a child, but at the time dishwashers where a newer "mod con" and out of our price range.

I got one a few years ago and use it daily. If it’s nice outside I’ll pop them on the line, but in the cold, dank north they wouldn’t dry well on damp days and I’d have to finish them off on the radiators or airer. I have no room for an airer, nor do I like having to turn things to dry or the smell that comes if they’ve taken a while to dry. Before I had a drier I would have clothes drying everywhere, but would have to open windows to avoid damp and mould. I have a condenser dryer. Any water stored gets used for watering plants. Not having to iron is another bonus!
I have a friend who dries hers on an airer. She has a very odd, fusty smell most of the time.

We used to have a washer drier but it was useless so only used in dire emergencies. When it died we just bought a washing machine to replace it. We line dry or hang washing in our spare bedroom on airers with a dehumidifier and shut the door till it’s dry. So it’s out of the way. Dehumidifier uses about 1kWh to dry an 8kg load of washing, and it all dries in a few hours. I know we’re lucky to have the space. Where we live now we do have space for a separate tumble drier but we’ve never seen the need and the space is used for our recycling boxes.

I always hated the smell of tumble-dried clothes. Musty. Maybe the newer models are better - our old one never got the clothes properly dry even though they came out really hot.

In winter I use it to take the edge off so only run a wash for 20/30 Mins. Then I hang it in an air dryer to finish. I find this really helps cut
Down on creases and stops damp. However I have trickle vented windows and my bathroom window is open all year round.

Op thank you for this, I live in Ireland, so I’d assume like Britain, a lot of rain, and I’m always wondering at all the people who say they barely use them- just how?! I have 4 boys, 2 that get muddy almost every day from sport, we definitely don’t have the supply of clothes to leave them sitting on a clothes horse in a house that isn’t that warm most of the time anyway plus the smell and the damp as a result is awful! I line dry as much as possible and love it but when you’re out of the house until after 6 it’s pointless for half of the year! But the guilt over the tumble dryer !! I once heard a guy say it’s actually not much worse Than most electrical appliances but I only heard it the once!

Ps our condenser drier is awful compared to the old one, I miss it so much!!!

Something non-Americans may not realise is that we don’t have radiators you can hang things on here. Our heating is mainly baseboard heaters - ie low heaters that run next to the skirting board. My son and daughter in the UK have heated clothes driers and they (in my opinion) are a pain in the bum with damp washing hanging around in the living room or bedroom, and stuff dries very stiff on them.

I think they wreck clothes - just look at how much lint (clothes) that has to be removed. I do use one for my towels though … air drying doesn’t make them fluffy and soft

People keep saying about the lint but honestly my thought when I empty that trap is "look at all this dust which isn't in my house - win"

The towels are absolutely getting threadbare more quickly with tumbling. Everything else seems ok.

I keep my clothes for years and it hasn't been my experience that tumble dryers wreck them.

Yep -I love the smell of towels and bedding that has been dried outside!

Yes, of course. I should have added that. I feel very sorry for people who daren’t switch on the heating because they can’t afford it.